


Just A Glance, That's All It Took

by softboystanley



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, ITS A SOULMATE AU, Multi, all the upside down stuff happened, also i have no idea how D&D works so ignore my bullshit, and an oblivious boy, elmax cause thats my shit, mikes a protective boy, richie's mentioned and could possible get a sequel but who knows?, this was originally supposed to be one long fic but i couldn't do it so now its 2, trigger warning blood, troys a bully, will and el are like siblings, will deserves love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 13:46:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15820095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softboystanley/pseuds/softboystanley
Summary: Soulmate AU: Whatever you draw on you skin, shows up on your soulmate's.Will began to feel a tingling sensation on the palm of his hand. He looked to see words forming.WB AS TMRWhat the fuck does that mean? Will thought to himself.(aka pining idiots soulmate edition)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> alright so this was supposed to be one long fic but it was getting REALLY long so i decided to make it two chapters, the next part will be up in a day or two. 
> 
> at the end troy pops up and does some bullying and thats the blood thing. no self harm or any of that shit here. also elmax cause why not.  
> and steves a party member.

A 6:15 a.m. alarm jolted Will Byers out of his sleep. He was having a dream about finally meeting his soulmate. It was his best friend and long time crush, Mike Wheeler.  _ It was just a silly dream _ . He began his morning routine of changing, washing his face, brushing his teeth and grabbing a granola bar to get to school faster. Jonathan had offered to drive him but Will declined. He was 14 now, the incident was two years ago and he was old enough to get to school himself. He still had annual check ins at the lab but he didn’t mind.He felt fine. 

 

As he biked past Lucas’s street, He saw Lucas emerge with Max in tow, on her skateboard. She, too, had refused a ride from her older brother. 

 

“Hey Will wait up!” Lucas pedaled a little faster to catch up with Will. Max was a few feet behind, only because she was in one of her moods. It only happens when something was going on at her house. 

 

“Hey Lucas. How’re you doing?” Will smiled. 

 

“Quite well, Byers. How about yourself?” 

 

“Good, I guess.” Will was still a little flustered from his dream. “Max, how are you doing?” 

 

“Fine.” Max clearly a little pissed so Will decided to leave her be. If it was anyone else Will would make sure they were okay, but Max usually just need time with her thoughts. 

 

The group goes by Dustin’s house and waits for a few minutes for him and El. El was always at Dustin’s in the morning because his mom was always working so Hopper thought it would be best for her safety. El came out of the house chewing on the remnants of an eggo, followed by Dustin, who was holding a half-eaten piece of bacon. 

 

“Hey guys.” Will greeted them. 

 

“Hi Will.” El smiled at him. 

 

“Byers, how’s it going?” Dustin offered him the bacon but Will declined. He was never hungry in the mornings. 

 

“Good.” 

 

“Hi Max.” El walked over to Max. El gave her a hug. She knew what state Max was in and tried her best to cheer her up. Max gave her a smile. El had that effect. But it was different with Max. 

 

“Dustin, wanna go to the arcade later? I got some money from mowing Old Man Larry’s lawn.” Lucas showed Dustin a fistfull of quarters. 

 

“Hell yeah. Will do you wanna come?” 

 

“Uh..I’m hanging with El tonight.” Every Tuesday, Hopper would stay late at the office so El would stay over at Will’s, because his family was the only one to really know about her powers and the whole upside down debacle. 

 

“Will!” Someone shouted from a driveway. Will pulled over his bike to see Mike biking towards him. 

 

“Hey Mike.” Will slowed his bike down so him and Mike fell in sync. 

 

“What are you up to tonight? I’ve got some campaign ideas, and it’s our turn to be dungeon master.” Ever since the party expanded to include Max, Steve and El, there would have to be two dungeon masters to even it out. 

 

“I’m with El tonight. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow?” Things had been weird between Mike and El since they broke up. Mike had told Will that it was nice but short lived. 

 

“It’s alright. We can do tomorrow.” Mike gave a smile but he didn’t seem to enthusiastic. Jealous, even. Will’s insides felt warm at the thought of Mike being jealous. 

 

They put their bikes in the bike rack and headed to their lockers to prepare for their first class. Will had english with none of the other party members so he spent most of his time doodling. His soulmate must hate all of his doodles. Mike once told Will about his cousin Richie who had tried to find his soulmate by drawing a dick on his forehead and seeing who came in with one. Mike had gone down and met all of his cousin’s friends one summer. He told Will that one of them was a lot like him. A copy even. Will had planned on going down to meet them with Mike that summer. 

 

Will suddenly snapped from his thoughts when someone came up behind him. “Will, can I talk to you, it's important.” He was greeted by Max looking at him desperately. 

 

“Yeah sure. What’s up?” Will was always ready to help a friend in need. 

 

“Not here.” She grabbed Will’s hand and led him into a science lab that no one was using. “You can’t tell a single soul about this, understand?” 

 

Will nodded. 

 

“I think...I like…” Max exhaled. This was clearly hard for her. 

 

“It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone. Just you and me.” 

“Ok. Uh..I think I like..El.” Max looked at Will expectantly. Will didn’t what she was waiting for. Him to laugh in her face and tell her girls shouldn’t like other girls?

 

“Really? I mean that’s awesome.” 

 

Max’s face lit up. “You don’t think it’s weird or anything?” 

 

“No not at all. You like who you like. It’s 2018 for God’s sake.” 

 

Max smiled. “You’re the first person I’ve told about this alright?” 

 

“Do you think she’s your soulmate?” Will asked inquisitively. 

 

“I don’t know, she’s always wearing long sleeves.” 

 

Faintly, Will heard the bell ring, signalling the start of class. Max and Will went their separate ways. Will thought they were cute. He would ask El about it later but he would never tell her outright that Max likes her. 

 

He took a seat in the back of the room. English was quite a boring class for Will because he never really learned anything. He had know about proper writing for most of his life. For him, it was really a waste of time. Will pulled out a pen and started doodling on his arm. He drew a D&D game piece. A demogorgon. It was a little bit ironic that his favorite mythical monster was the same one that had kidnapped him years prior. 

 

Will began to feel a tingling sensation on the palm of his hand. He looked to see words forming. 

 

_ WB AS TMR  _

 

_ What the fuck does that mean? _ Will thought to himself. He knew that TMR stood for tomorrow but the rest he was at a loss. It was like his soulmate was speaking to him in code.  _ Should he write back _ ? He picked up his pen but couldn’t bring himself to do it. It felt like he was invading someone’s privacy. It wasn’t right. 

 

He spent the rest of his morning in a haze, trying to figure out what it meant.  _ WB _ . Was it a place? Warner Bros? Or a person?  _ Will Byers?  _ Will shook the thought from his head, deeming it as a mere coincidence. Will was in such a haze that he didn’t even notice he had bumped into someone. 

 

“Oh, excuse me.” He said, still not fully processing the situation. 

 

“Excuse me?” Will’s blood turned cold.  _ Fuck _ . It was Troy Harrington. Will was so screwed. Troy got up. “You’re in for it now, Byers.”  Will did the only thing he could think of. Run. 

 

He ran through the halls until he found himself outside. He hid behind the back of a dumpster. The smell was enough to make him vomit but the whole situation felt too familiar. Running, hiding, praying he wouldn’t be found. It was exactly like his episodes from a year ago. Except this time Mike wouldn’t be there to save him. 

 

“I’ll fucking find you!” Will could hear Troy, meaning he was close. Will was completely silent. He didn’t dare move fearful that Troy would find him.  He looked to his left and saw what looked like a rat digging through the trash. Will shrieked and ran out from behind the dumpster and right into Troy. 

 

“Found you, fairy.” Troy grabbed Will forcefully by his arm and threw him to the ground. Will groaned in pain as Troy jumped onto him, holding him to the ground, and repeatedly punching him in the face. Will could feel blood trickle from his nose. 

 

“Hey! Leave him alone!” shouted a voice. Will couldn’t see the person the voice had come from but he could see a little bit of fear in Troy’s eyes. Maybe it was Steve, Troy’s older brother, and honorary party member. Steve was around to help the party last year while he and Mike were at the lab. Dustin and Lucas felt that after becoming the “mother” of the group he should be a party member. In fact, Steve was picking up Will and El after school. 

 

Troy stepped off of Will. He backed up. “Alright, Wheeler, protect your boyfriend or whatever but this isn’t over.” His voice trembled. Will turned to see Mike standing, looking mad as hell.

 

“Get the fuck out of here Troy.” Will could tell from Mike’s voice, he was pissed. He saw Troy run out of the corner of his eye.  Mike’s expression softened from angry to concerned as he laid eyes on Will. “Jesus, Will are you okay? You don’t look too good.” 

 

Will put a finger to his nose, which came away bloody. “I’m fine.” Will tried to stand and his legs immediately gave out beneath him.  Mike rushed over and caught him. 

 

“All right take it easy.” Mike took off his hoodie and put it under Will’s nose, wiping up some of the blood. 

 

“But..Mike your hoodie…”

 

“Eh it’s fine. I’ll just tell my mom that I scraped my knee.” Mike smiled and Will almost died. Will’s insides had that warm feeling again. He felt the blood rush to his face. 

 

“Steve’s taking you home right?” 

 

“Yeah, why?” Steve always took Will and El home on Tuesdays because Jonathan and his mom were both working and were incredibly paranoid about him. Steve would drive them home, chill with them for a minute and head out. 

  
  


“Troy said it wasn’t over and I don’t want you getting ambushed by him and his gang.” Ever since Mike almost jumped off a cliff and El broke Troy’s arm, He had stopped going after Dustin, Lucas and Mike out of fear that El would hurt him again. But since Will was in the upside down, Troy still went after him. That and he was an easy target. 

 

“Really Mike, I’m fine. Just a little bloody that’s all.” 

 

“Will.. I just saw you almost collapse. I’ll wait out here with you until you feel better, promise.” Mike removed his sweater from Will’s nose and Will caught a glimpse of his palm. 

 

_ WB AS TMR  _

 

Will almost fainted then and there. Clearly, Mike saw his face change. “What? What’s wrong?” 

 

“Uh..nothing. Just realized I’m gonna miss history.” 

 

“Whatever, it’s a bullshit class anyways.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright so this is the finale. I tried hard to write steve as a mom. also its a little rushed sorry

“You guys got all your homework and stuff?” Steve asked as El and Will took a seat in the back of his car. 

 

“Yup.” Will’s still hurt a little bit from Troy but other than that he felt perfectly fine. Mike and he stayed outside for about 30 minutes and Will was in a little bit of trouble but it was fine. Oh yeah and MIKE WAS WILL’S SOULMATE. Will was in complete shock for the rest of the day. He didn’t know what he was gonna say to Mike. Will was subtly avoiding him, too. Taking less time at his locker to get his stuff, being late to lunch.Will hated it. Mike was his best friend. And here he was, avoiding him. 

 

“Will.” Steve snapped his fingers. “Did you hear what I said?” 

 

“No, sorry.” 

 

“I asked what the bruise was from.” Steve pointed to Will’s face. 

 

Will craned his neck to look in a rear view mirror to see this “bruise”. He was greeted by a brown blotch around his cheek with spots of blue and purple. “Oh it was… I fell.” 

 

“Right into Troy’s fist.” El mumbled. Will shot her a look. It’s not that he wanted to protect Troy. He was scared of what Troy would do to him if Steve or his parents called him out. 

 

“What was that?” Steve said, eyeing the two of them in the back. Sometimes it was hilarious how mom-like he was. 

 

“Nothing.” Both El and Will replied in unison. 

 

“How was your day, Steve?” El changed the topic quickly. 

 

“It was fine. Now what the hell actually happened to Will’s face cause when Jonathan comes home ‘You fell’ won’t be good enough.”  Will blushed hard, hating the spotlight being on him. 

 

“You promise you won’t get mad?” 

 

“Yeah whatever.” 

 

“Well uh-” Will was cut off by El 

 

“Troy beat him up.” 

 

Steve nodded. “Aright, alright, alright.” Steve was trying to keep his cool. And was failing miserably. “You’re okay though, right?” 

 

“Yeah I’m all good. Mike stayed out with me.” 

 

“Oh.” Steve winked at El. She giggled in return. 

 

“What?” 

 

“What?” 

 

“What the hell was that?” 

 

“What the hell was what?” 

 

“That wink.” 

 

“Oh it’s nothing just, you and Mike.” Steve raised his eyebrows. 

 

Will felt heat rise into his cheeks. “What? No it wasn’t like that. Stop winking Steve.” Will desperately wanted this car ride from hell to be over. 

 

“We’re just saying Will, there’s a weird tension there.” El added. 

 

“Is not.”

 

“Is too.” 

 

“Is not.” 

 

“Is too.” 

 

“Is n-” 

 

“What are you guys, seven? knock it off.” 

 

Steve pulled the car into the driveway. “Alright this is it, I gotta go back to Scoops so I can’t hang with you.” 

 

“Thanks Steve!” They both said, once again in unison.   

 

El and Will walked into the house and set their bags down on the counter. Will went to the fridge to get a GoGo Squeeze. He offered one to El but she declined. 

 

“Do you really think me and Mike have a tension?” 

 

“I mean there’s always been a thing. Especially after we broke up.” She shrugged. 

 

“Okay I’m gonna tell you something but you can’t tell anyone. Especially Steve.” 

 

El nodded. 

 

“Me and Mike are soulmates.” Will saw El’s eyes go wide. “But I haven’t told him yet.” 

 

“How do you know?” 

 

“I saw the same thing that was printed on my palm on his.” Will opened the palm of his hand to reveal the code. “I have no clue what it means.” 

 

“Will Byers, after school, tomorrow.” El smiled triumphantly. 

 

“How?!?!” 

 

“Mike always writes in letters because he thinks it's easier. It made passing notes in class weird.” 

 

“Who do you think is your soulmate?” Will changed the subject. 

 

“I don’t know. I guess there’s no way to really tell until you know for sure.” 

 

“Is that why you always wear long sleeves?” 

 

“No they’re more comfy.”

 

“Well who do you like at least? If anyone.”

 

“You can’t tell a soul.” 

 

“I just told you the biggest secret of my life.” Will raised an eyebrow. 

 

“Fair.” 

 

“Well..” 

 

“Max.” 

 

Will tried to do a poker face. He really tried. But his joy got the best of him. A huge grin grew onto his face. He remembered what Max said and tried to hide it but he was too happy. He always thought they would be a cute couple. 

 

El took notice of his smile. “What? What do you know Will.” 

 

“Nothing.” 

 

“Will you clearly know something.” 

 

Will bolted to his room. “Will Byers! Get your ass over here and tell me.” 

 

“You’ll have to ask Max!” 

 

El gasped. Will knew he gave it away. He came out his room, holding a pen. “I have an idea.” 

 

“What?” El took a seat on the couch. 

 

“Write an inside joke you have with Max on your arm. If it’s her, she’ll realize that you’re her soulmate and then she’ll talk to you about it.” 

 

El grabbed the pen and began to write on her arm. Will looked to see, in El’s neat handwriting. 

 

_ Avocado  _

 

El met his gaze. “Don’t ask.”  __

  
  


\----------------------------------------------------------- 

 

Will was biking into Mike’s driveway. He was building up his courage to tell Mike that they were soulmates. He pulled his bike to a stop and knocked on their front door. He was greeted by a smiling Mike. God, Will loved his smile. 

 

“Hey Will. Come on in.”  Will followed Mike into his basement. They took a seat on the same couch that, one year earlier, they had both said they would go crazy together. It was one of Will’s favorite memories of Mike.

 

“So I was thinking, for our campaign, if we have them go-”

 

“I have to tell you something.” Will cut off Mike. He didn’t even realize he was doing it until the words left his lips. 

 

“What is it?” Mike moved closer to Will. 

 

Will inhaled. This was it. “We’re soulmates.” He opened his palm revealing the message. Mike opened his own palm showing the same exact thing. 

 

Will couldn’t read Mike facial expression. “Are you disappointed it’s me?” Will asked after a few moments of silence between the pair. 

 

“No absolutely not.” Mike took Will’s face into his hands. “I just… I guess...I’m in shock. I’ve always liked you, Will. I never thought we’d be soulmates. Only in dreams, but here we are.” 

 

“I’ve always liked you too.” 

 

And then Will did something. He pressed his lips onto Mike’s. They were soft and kinda tasted like vanilla. After a few glorious seconds, Will pulled away. 

 

“I love you, Wheeler.” 

 

“I love you, too, Byers.” 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also please let me know if you would like a sequel to this where Mike and Will go to Derry and try to get Richie and Eddie together. I have a strong idea in my head but like if no one wants it i won't write it. 
> 
> feedback is always appreciated!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [avocados](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18294173) by [Byler_tyrus_and_HarryPotter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Byler_tyrus_and_HarryPotter/pseuds/Byler_tyrus_and_HarryPotter)




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